2024 has been a year of major evolutions for Oris, even if the releases themselves have been a bit less bombastic than previous years. Instead, 2024 is a year for a new, more mature and thoughtful Oris, best shown through its redesigned Aquis collection launched in the spring. For its major fall release, the brand takes this same refined, more mass-market-friendly approach to redesigning the slimmer, retro-styled Divers Sixty-Five collection. For this new generation, the “Sixty-Five” moniker is dropped, alongside a cleaner, more streamlined, more conventional presentation and a host of tangible upgrades. The new Oris Divers Date family takes clear aim at some of the most popular vintage-styled divers of the past few years, with a few classic Oris additions along the way.

On the wrist the new Oris Divers Date feels comfortably familiar, in more ways than one might expect. Measuring in at 39mm wide, the stainless steel case is a more streamlined, complex take on the classic skin diver lines of the previous Divers Sixty-Five. The tips of the tapering, chamfered lugs take on a more detailed compound curve, and the coin-edge bezel features a wider downward sloping edge, and a brightly polished finish. In addition, the dive bezel insert is now rendered from glossy, engraved black ceramic, topped with a simplified, slender and slightly Rolex-esque white typeface. Although the vertical polished case sides are near-identical to its Divers Sixty-Five forebear, the screwdown crown now rests on a unique squared-off protrusion extending beyond the surrounding case. Individually, the changes may be quite minor, but they add up to a significantly more premium-feeling whole during wear. This is a slightly more compact-feeling case than the outgoing Divers Sixty-Five, with an on-wrist stance that feels almost reverse-engineered from the perennial dive-watch sweet spot, the Tudor Black Bay 58. Around back, Oris equips the Divers Date with a sapphire display caseback. Crucially, though, this new generation actually serves as an ISO 6425-compliant dive watch, with an uprated 200 meters of water resistance for the first time.

Like the case, the dials of the Oris Divers Date line don’t necessarily reinvent the wheel, but instead focus on refining and elevating the familiar Divers Sixty-Five formula. To this end, the pre-existing split straight sword handset and the applied diver-style indices make a return here, but both are given slightly more intricate finishing. For the hands, Oris adds a slight curvature along the width of each hand, allowing for a gentle, gradual play of light at shifting angles. For the indices, Oris adds polished, beveled edges to each, allowing these to present visual highlights in almost any conditions. Once again, it’s a subtle overall change, but the end result is a brighter, more premium-feeling dial on the wrist. Other changes to the layout are even smaller, including new “Divers 200M/660ft” text at 6 o’clock.

Where the more visible changes happen, however, is with dial color. Of course, there’s the standard, timeless gloss black dial option, but where things get interesting is with the two other available dial variants. For a more oceanic look, Oris offers a dark, desaturated matte navy blue. This restrained, old-school hue helps to reinforce the brand’s “back to the ‘60s” design philosophy for this model, but the real standout on the wrist is the pale, sophisticated sandy beige dial. It’s a color that’s rarely seen in divers or even watches in general, with a more light and delicate feel than a tropical brown and more character than true white. It still manages to impart a beachy, ocean-ready feel to the Divers Date design, but the feeling here is more akin to lounging in a shoreside cabana or sailing around the Cape than diving a shipwreck for lost treasure. It’s a tasteful, intelligent look that should go well with a variety of styles.

Inside the Oris Divers date beats the familiar Oris 733 automatic movement. Based on the ubiquitous Sellita SW200, the Oris 733 has been a staple of the brand’s more affordable offerings for many years, and its appearance here differs little from its previous iterations. The somewhat antiquated power reserve has been slightly uprated to 41 hours here, but otherwise the movement architecture and the 28,800 bph beat rate remain unchanged. In terms of finishing, the famous Oris red rotor makes its appearance here, paired to a set of matte blasted bridges and selected blued screws.

To complete the Divers Date, Oris pairs the design with both a stainless steel three-link oyster-style bracelet and an included black rubber tropic strap. While the overall three-link format might be commonplace in the watch industry, Oris sets this one apart with its profile. Rather than smoothly tapering down to the clasp, the bracelet here is instead terraced: at several points along its length, the links are simply narrower than the preceding links, while maintaining their straight edges. The polished “rivet” sides of the outer links only accentuate this effect, which gives the bracelet more of its own character than similar designs. Thanks to its female quick-release endlinks and handsomely finished two-button clasp, it’s a comfortable and attractive twist on a familiar formula. Sadly, our hands-on samples did not come equipped with the rubber straps, so we are unable to give on-wrist impressions of these.

Although truly show-stopping, outlandish releases have been rare this year, 2024 has been an important year of quiet, evolutionary change for Oris. The new Oris Divers Date is perhaps the best, most complete example of this philosophy in action, refining the beloved Divers Sixty-Five concept into a sleeker, more upscale iteration that still preserves some of the spirit of its forebears. The Oris Divers Date is available now through authorized dealers. MSRP for the Oris Divers Date stands at 2,450 CHF as of press time. For more details, please visit the brand’s website.